Donaco seeks to entice Thai casino tourists

Donaco seeks to entice Thai casino tourists

Gambling investment firm Donaco International has paid $360m (€321m) for the Star Vegas casino, which is situated close to Cambodia’s border with Thailand.

The Australia-listed firm, which was launched by members of the Genting gamily, has expanded its presence within the Asian casino market, adding to the Aristo International Hotel Casino in Lao Cai City, which borders the Yunnan province of China.

The 385-room Star Vegas is in Poipet, the Cambodian town closest to Bangkok, and is a popular destination for Thai tourists as casinogambling is illegal in their own country.

While Thailand’s government has cracked down on casino gambling in recent times, it is considering further taxes on horse racing and other forms of gambling as it seeks to raise funds.

According to the Bangkok Post, the country’s Excise Department has hired expert Sungsidh Piriyaranhsa of Rangsit University to consider which forms of legalised gambling can be taxed or which betting duties can be raised.

The department currently raises just 55m baht from taxing horse racing through a 20 per cent duty on entrance tickets for courses and a 20 per cent tax on the courses’ revenue from bets after deducting winnings.

Piriyaranhsa, dean of the university’s College of Social Innovation, is believed to favour a tax on profits rather than revenues, and will look at taxation on lotteries, cockfighting, bullfighting and playing cards.

“The study centres on imposing an additional excise duty on horse racing and looking at why race courses in Thailand are mired in losses,” he said.

Lotteriesare currently exempt from taxation, although the Excise Department collects some 25m baht by charging three baht for every 100 poker cards produced by the state-contrlled Playing Cards Factory.